Chicken breeders hooked on inexpensive showmanship hobby

Jim Ward bent down and leaned in close so he could hear the young girl over the cacophony of clucking and crowing.

Ward was judging the youth showmanship competition on Saturday at the Ohio National Poultry Show at the Ohio Expo Center.

Ward asked 8-year-old Michaela Eades to take her silver-laced Japanese bantam chicken out of its cage and spread out a wing. He then asked her questions about the bird, such as what made the breed special.

“They’re small and friendly,” Eades said.

Meanwhile, across the cavernous arena in the Voinovich Livestock and Trade Center, other judges inspected some of the 5,400 birds that adults had entered in the competition, considered the nation’s most prestigious.

Judge Jeff Halbach worked his way among the rows and stacks of wire-mesh chicken cages, each containing a meticulously cleaned and coiffed bird representing dozens of breeds: Wyandottes and Cochins, Silkies and Leghorns.

Though no prize money is involved, judging is serious business, with strict standards for appearance for each breed and points deducted for minor flaws such as “having one extra spike on their top comb, or part of a wing feather or tail feather bent or missing,” Halbach said.

“The first thing I look for is the shape of the bird,” he said. “Number two is cleanliness and the color of the birds, and number three is personality.

“When I open that (cage) door, I want the chicken to come up and say hello. A good one will do that. One that hasn’t been properly trained will probably run to the back of the cage.”

Among the birds waiting to be judged were 23 owned by Don Monke, a Plain City resident and Michaela’s grandfather.

He was eager to show off his 18 silver-laced Japanese bantams, a variety he has painstakingly bred for the past seven years but had not entered in competition until this weekend.

He and his wife, Priscilla, have between 100 and 200 birds on their 4-acre property, and he has been competing in shows for more than 20 years.

But it was his children who got him started. In 1990, his daughter, Holly, and youngest son, Nathan (older son Travis was not interested), wanted to raise animals for a 4-H project.

“A friend of mine said chickens are the least expensive way to go, and it’s true,” Monke said. “We started off with a broiler project. It’s a seven-week project. You take the chickens to the fair, and when it’s done, it’s done. You either sell the birds or eat them.”

The next year, Nathan asked his father if they could buy “layers” that they would keep beyond fair season.

“So Mom and Dad let him have those,” said Holly Eades (Michaela’s mother), “and then it turned into this.”

She gestured toward the 24-by-36-foot coop Don Monke built to house the growing flock that Holly and Nathan continued to take to fairs and shows until they grew up.

“They’re a nice animal to work with,” Holly said. “They don’t take a lot of special equipment, and you can handle them as little kids and be OK, and still be able to have the hobby continue as you grow into adulthood.”

Indeed, chicken breeders tout their hobby as accessible to all ages and one that does not take big money (even the best show chickens can be purchased for $50 to $100).

“As a group, we’re friendly,” said Clell Agler, 74, a Grove City resident who has been raising chickens for 65 years. “And also, for the most part, money doesn’t help you compete. You get into showing steers, the big money wins, period. If you hatch a chicken, you might hatch a winner.”

Don Monke, 64, recently retired after a career in cattle breeding. He said he become hooked by the science and art of chicken breeding, picking which birds to mate in order to produce the best show birds.

“I like the genetics, I like the challenge,” he said. “I just enjoy it.”

Priscilla Monke has been tolerant of her husband’s burgeoning hobby.

“I’d rather him be at the barn than the bar,” she said.

She was one of nine members of the Monke-Eades family, spanning three generations, on hand Saturday.

The culture was what fascinated film maker Nicole Lucas Haimes, who directed a feature-length documentary in 2016 titled “Chicken People.” The film took a light-hearted (but not mocking) look at the people who raise and show birds.

Haimes said she at first found chicken people “hilarious and odd” but soon grew to appreciate their passion.

“These are salt-of-the-earth people,” she said. “And in the end, I felt that these people were in love with their chickens, and that was really special and needed to be celebrated.”

The Ohio National youth awards were announced Saturday night. Michaela placed third in showmanship in the age 7-9 class and her younger sister, Danielle, won first and second place in her chickens’ class (silver-laced Wyandotte bantam).

None of Don’s birds advanced to the “championship row” where winners were announced on Sunday. He had won awards here in past years, though, and was not too disappointed.

“My birds have a lot of nice (qualities), but they weren’t in the right condition for the show or not quite as nice as others,” he said. “This just shows me what I need to work on for next year.”

kgordon@dispatch.com

@kgdispatch

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